This isn’t a transformation you see every day. When the St. George Tower — once a wing of one of the largest and most luxurious hotels in the entire city — was converted into co-ops in 1984, the old hotel’s service entrance became the new co-op’s lobby. For decades, the space remained sponge-painted beige and depressingly drab.

But just last year, a renovation designed by Katz Architecture transformed the worn and ill-lit entrance into a clean, lavish space with details harkening back to the building’s Art Deco past.

The listing for this co-op at 111 Hicks Street doesn’t say who the seller is, but the interior design screams “sponsor.” The design is too bad, since the apartment itself–1,450 square feet with plentiful windows and incredible views from the 25th floor–has so much potential. As you may recall, this building also has painfully high maintenance charges ($2,683 in this case), which explains the relatively low asking price of $995,000. Too bad you couldn’t have bought this for $795,000 and done the renovation yourself.111 Hicks Street, #25A [Fenwick Keats] GMAPP*Shark